Ascanio Condivi

Ascanio Condivi (1525 – 10 December 1574) was an Italian painter and writer. Generally regarded as a mediocre artist, he is primarily remembered as the biographer of Michelangelo.

Biography

Title page of Vita di Michelagnolo Buonarroti written by Ascanio Condivi

The son of Latino Condivi and Vitangela de' Ricci, Ascanio Condivi was a nobleman born in the town of Ripatransone in the Marche.

He moved to Rome circa 1545, where he became an acquaintance of Michelangelo. In 1553 he published Vita di Michelagnolo [sic] Buonarroti,^[1] an authorised account of Michelangelo's life over which his subject had complete control. The Vita was partly a rebuttal of hostile rumours that were being perpetuated about the artist, namely that he was arrogant, avaricious, jealous of other artists, and reluctant to take on pupils. It also served to correct inaccuracies Michelangelo found in the fawning biography of him in Giorgio Vasari's Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori ("Lives of the most excellent painters, sculptors and architects"), which was later revised considerably by Vasari in the wake of Condivi's biography. Condivi's Vita denies that Michelangelo was indebted to any other artist and claims that he was self-taught (he was in fact a pupil of Domenico Ghirlandaio). Also, much is made of his supposed descent from the Counts of Canossa, although this belief of Michelangelo's was utterly unfounded. Due to its literary qualities some scholars believe that the poet Annibale Caro had a hand in the writing of the Vita.

After the publication of the Vita Condivi returned to Ripatransone, where he undertook civic duties, married, and devoted himself to painting religious subjects. One of these paintings, the unfinished and ambiguously themed Holy Family and other figures (now in the Casa Buonarroti, Florence), relied completely for its composition on a cartoon provided by Michelangelo. The cartoon, known as the Epifania as it was once erroneously believed to depict the Epiphany, is now housed in the British Museum, London.

Condivi died on 10 December 1574, because of a sudden flood while fording the torrent Menocchia, down the valley north of his birth town.

References

↑ Chilvers, [edited by] Ian (2009). The Oxford dictionary of art and artists. (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-19-953294-0.

External links

Michelangelo

List of works
Key: *Attributed, †Lost

Sculptures

Florence, c. 1488–1492	†Head of a Faun Madonna of the Stairs Battle of the Centaurs Crucifix

Bologna, 1494–1495	Additions to the Arca di San Domenico (St Petronius, St Proclus, Angel)

Rome, 1496–1500	†Sleeping Cupid Bacchus †Standing Cupid Pietà

Florence, 1501–1505	David Madonna of Bruges Additions to the Piccolomini Altarpiece (Saints Peter, Paul, Pius and Gregory) Pitti Tondo Taddei Tondo St. Matthew

Tomb of Pope Julius II, 1505–1545	Moses Rebellious Slave Dying Slave Young Slave Bearded Slave Atlas Slave Awakening Slave The Genius of Victory Rachel Leah

Florence, 1516–1534	Christ Carrying the Cross Medici Chapel Giuliano de' Medici Night Day Dusk Dawn Medici Madonna Apollo Crouching Boy

Rome, 1534–1564	Brutus Florentine Pietà Palestrina Pietà Rondanini Pietà

Paintings

Panel paintings	The Torment of Saint Anthony Manchester Madonna The Entombment Doni Tondo †Leda and the Swan

Salone dei Cinquecento	†Battle of Cascina

Sistine Chapel	Ceiling The Last Judgment

Cappella Paolina	The Martyrdom of St Peter

Architecture

Florence	New Sacristy and Laurentian Library in the Basilica of San Lorenzo

Rome	Piazza del Campidoglio Palazzo Farnese St. Peter's Basilica San Giovanni dei Fiorentini Porta Pia Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

Works on paper	Study of a Kneeling Nude Girl for The Entombment Epifania

Milieu	Cecchino dei Bracci Tommaso dei Cavalieri Vittoria Colonna Ascanio Condivi Gherardo Perini Sebastiano del Piombo Febo di Poggio Luigi del Riccio

Related topics	Art patronage of Julius II Casa Buonarroti Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects Replicas of David Replicas of the Pietà

Wikimedia	Michelangelo at Wikimedia Commons Michelangelo at Wikiquote

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 14891203 LCCN: n85381871 ISNI: 0000 0001 0797 2863 GND: 118676717 SUDOC: 073177083 BNF: cb12598064b (data) ULAN: 500115521 NLA: 54957733 NDL: 00464818 NKC: js2006345164 BNE: XX893058 RKD: 17929

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